House Prices Remain 'Rock Solid'

The latest Christies House Price Index, using the most up to date reliable data from the Land Registry, confirms that property in the local area continues to represent an outstanding investment.

Medium and long term gains are exceptional. Based on past performance anyone looking to buy a property in the coming months will be very encouraged to see that prices have risen by 46% over the previous ten years and by an astonishing 187% over the previous 15 years.

What is perhaps even more impressive is that in spite of the down turn in the property market since 2007/2008 prices are still 1% higher than they were 5 years ago.

The comparison is based on the average price of all local properties sold including flats, maisonettes, all types of houses and bungalows. Figures for April & May are not yet available - the Index will be revised as soon as the data is released so please check this page regularly for any updates.

Date............Average Price.........Average Price Mar 2012.......YEARS............INCREASE

Mar-97..............£86,292..........................£247,512...........................15.....................187%

Mar-02............£169,129..........................£247,512...........................10.......................46%

Mar-07............£246,216..........................£247,512............................5.........................1%

Over the years, and particularly in recent times, demand for properties in Cheam and the nearby areas, such as Sutton, Ewell, Epsom, Banstead and Kingswood, has increased dramatically. Much of this demand is due to the location of the properties we sell, which are ideally situated on the fringes of London, bordering rural Surrey greenbelt countryside with picture postcard villages and market towns full of rich heritage and character.

Buyers flood into the area to take advantage of a wide range of leisure and shopping amenities. The local schools are nationally renowned and attract large numbers of enquiries, ensuring that property sale levels and prices have remained well above quoted national averages.

Cheam Village has a flourishing local community with many popular cafés, restaurants and varied independent shops and businesses; this, coupled with many high street names, creates an enviable mix of retail and food outlets. Combined with excellent road and rail links, demand for property remains constant and represents an exceptional investment.

Christies have an unparalleled understanding of the area and are dedicated to ensuring customers are always informed – not just on the property market and prices ,but also the area and amenities. When looking at buying a new home, we believe it is imperative that our purchasers are fully informed about all aspects of the potential move.

Your estate agent should be able to answer any of your questions regarding this. We are proud to represent this area and convey that passion to anyone looking to move here.

Please contact either Andrew Richardson, Jeremy Richardson or Richard Killoughery on 020 8643 7777 to get moving or email us at sales@christiesworld.com.

Normal Service is Resumed

It is the height of the moving season and Nick Churton of Christies Mayfair Group London Office takes a look at how the property market is shaping up this spring.

Here we go again. Double dip. What will the property market do now? When will it ever get back to normal? Well, the mortgage lenders are still being difficult and the conveyancers seem to be taking forever to process sales. Buyers are being especially choosy and, bizarrely, some are even letting the internet influence what they should pay for a property rather than the market.

Some sellers still think it is 2006 with prices to match. Surveyors are ever more cautious. These are everyday issues that affect all those involved in buying and selling property. Plus there are the other annoyances like Stamp Duty changes, and confused and conflicting reports made by industry ‘insiders’ in the press. What should a sensible buyer or seller do? 

The answer is to forget all of the above and get on with your move. If you wait for things to get back to normal you will wait forever because there is no normal in property. We are where we are now. Tomorrow may be better or it may be worse. But who really knows. So make the most of it now and move on. Don’t look back.

There may be ups and there will certainly be downs along the way. But the best advice from the people who understand the property market most of all – estate agents - is don’t wait for things to get back to normal. This is normal, or as normal as it gets.

Please contact either Andrew Richardson, Jeremy Richardson or Richard Killoughery on 020 8643 7777 to get moving or email us at sales@christiesworld.com.

Planning the Future

Following the recent government announcements on planning Christies take a look at how they may effect future housing development.

The government’s new planning proposals have had a rough ride over the past few months - and rightly so. Early drafts were not promising and they threatened disjointed, short sighted and self-serving policies that may have put decisions in the hands of disjointed organisations, short sighted people and self-serving business concerns. But all is not yet crystal clear. The phrase ‘sustainable development’ seems to have caused confusion in many, including some of the politicians and planners themselves. If it means we will now build homes that people will be proud of in fifty years then that sounds like good sustainability. But if it means homes of which we will be so ashamed we will tear them down in several decades – as we have with so many from the 1960s - then that, patently, is unsustainable development. 

The final draft however has been met with guarded and grudging approval – even from bodies such as the National Trust and Friends of the Earth. The policy of Brownfield first must be right. To make use of urban regeneration while protecting our countryside wherever and whenever possible still provides enormous opportunities for much needed house building. Where rural development is considered let us hope that planners are mindful of their duty to our heritage. It is our children who will have to live with their decisions, as we have had to live with many poor decisions made by their predecessors. 

Bringing new life into rural communities is important and modern technologies like broadband can attract people who will live and work in a community and not just sleep in it. The government wants to concentrate more on reviving our flagging town centres and less on out of town retail parks. They could be too late for that. 

The public may have moved on a step or two further than government thinking - as is sometimes the case. So an enlightened vision on how we could bring mixed use to struggling town centres, including residential development, may be a way to move forward. But whatever the future brings at least we now have a planning policy that, broadly speaking, people can get behind and which will enable planners to get planning and builders to get building. 

All we need now are the mortgages to help buy what is built. But the government did not mention anything about that . . .

Please contact either Andrew Richardson, Jeremy Richardson or Richard Killoughery on 020 8643 7777 to get moving or email us at sales@christiesworld.com.